


since you've awakened her again, she depends on you

by pyrefiy



Series: pyre's box of seulrene [4]
Category: Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: F/F, after forgetting the entire plot, hearts for sale au sorta, i took a bunch of liberties bc i wrote this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-21
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-11-27 03:21:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18189113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyrefiy/pseuds/pyrefiy
Summary: Seulgi's a "Heartmaker," as people of her profession are affectionately called— although she doesn't "make" hearts per say, just fixes them. Most of her clients are the brokenhearted, who have lost faith in love but want another chance. Or, Irene is no different than most that walk through Seulgi's door, though perhaps her heart is a little bit worse for wear and Seulgi won't allow that.





	since you've awakened her again, she depends on you

**AN: Hiya everyone! Here’s a oneshot from me haha it’s based vaguely off a comic called Hearts for Sale, although when I started writing this, I had forgotten what it was called and what certain terms were, so I took a bunch of liberties (hence the term “vaguely” lol) Enjoy!**

 

Seulgi reclines in her chair behind her shop counter with a sigh, casually twirling a pencil deftly around her fingers. It's been a slow day today— she's only had to fix one heart so far, and while in retrospect, while it's great to see that everyone's heart has remained intact, that means no income for her.   
  
She's a "Heartmaker," as people of her profession are affectionately called— although she doesn't "make" hearts per say, just fixes them. Most of her clients are the brokenhearted, who have lost faith in love but want another chance.   
  
It's a family business. Seulgi had grown up in this very shop, watching her father fix heart after heart, taking in the way he put his very soul in every heart he repaired.   
  
Seulgi still remembers all the times she'd witnessed him taking pieces of his own heart, trading them for the irreparable or missing pieces of some of his client's.   
  
"Why do you give up your own pieces when you can't ever get them back?" She'd asked him one day, still a mere child.    
  
A glowing, broken heart floated gently in front of them, the light that should have shone with strength flickering weakly.   
  
He'd smiled at his daughter warmly, patting Seulgi on the head with affection before gently cupping the damaged heart with both hands.   
  
"I loved your mother," he had replied, and it was then that Seulgi had understood. "She was my One. And we had you as proof of our love, bug! Now, she's waiting for me up in heaven.  I don't need to find love in another, but there are other people who still haven't found their One. They handed their heart to someone else who only hurt them, but they're brave, Seulgi. They're willing to try again. It's only right for me to be brave with them."   
  
Seulgi had taken those words to heart, never forgetting them, even after her father had joined her mother in heaven and Seulgi had taken over the shop.   
  
There had been one time a young girl named Yeri had shyly brought her bruised heart to Seulgi to be repaired. Yeri had been planning on giving her heart away to a girl named Joy, who Yeri had had a crush on for over a year now. But for some reason, Yeri always found that she experienced a small sting every time she tried to give her heart to Joy, and she didn't know why. She had brought her heart to Seulgi with the hopes of getting it examined and fixed.   
  
By the time she was finished looking over Yeri's heart, Seulgi had found a small segment missing from the otherwise pristine heart, just towards the core.    
  
(Seulgi would later learn that Yeri had a piece of her heart missing from the one time a pretty girl at school had rejected a Valentine's Day gift. Yeri had thought she had gotten over it, but apparently she had been wrong).   
  
Nevertheless, Seulgi hadn't hesitated to pluck a small piece out of her own heart, inserting it into Yeri's with a gentle smile before returning it to its owner.   
  
Three days later, Yeri had returned to Seulgi's shop with a big grin on her face and a taller girl linking their arms. Yeri had proudly showed Seulgi the heart she'd received from Joy in exchange. Joy had laughed, gently cradling Yeri's heart in her own arms.   
  
That was when Seulgi knew that it had been worth it, her own soul flourishing every time she got to witness happy customers.   
  


\--

  
The phone rings, striking Seulgi out of her reverie, and she lets the pencil fall from her fingertips as she reaches for it.   
  
"Hello?"   
  
"Seul! How's your day going?"   
  
"Wendy!" Seulgi greets with a smile, shifting to lean on the countertop. With her charming personality, Wendy is the Soulweaver a block away, weaving beautiful tapestries from the colors of souls. "I'm doing well! It's been a slow day, but it's good that everyone's hearts are healthy."   
  
"That's great!" Wendy enthuses. "Hey, I'm sending you a customer right now actually. She's new in town, but she was looking for our local Heartmaker, so I directed her your way. Prepare yourself, yeah? This one's a bit of a doozy."   
  
Seulgi frowns, an eyebrow quirking up. "Prepare myself? Is she hard to handle?"   
  
There's a soft sigh from the other end of the line.

 

“It’s not her, Seul. It's her  _ heart. _ I've never seen anything like it… I don't want to say that it’s beyond saving but…”

 

“No heart is beyond saving,” Seulgi replies resolutely. “I’m going to fix it, no matter how bad.”

 

She can hear Wendy’s smile from over the phone.

 

“I know you will, Seul. Please take care of yourself, okay?”

 

“I will.” Seulgi looks up as the bell above the shop entrance jingles, signaling someone entering. “Thank you, Wendy. I'll talk to you later, goodbye for now!”

 

Wendy had failed to mention that the girl she had sent over was beautiful. Almost overbearingly so.

 

Seulgi has to take a deep breath the moment she sees the young woman glancing around her shop. With her raven black hair falling gently over her shoulders, her hands in the pockets of her navy blue blazer, this new customer has Seulgi entranced.

 

The Heartmaker swallows. She's never been nervous before a client like this before.

 

“Excuse me?” She calls, pulse stilling as the stranger turns her faze to Seulgi. “Are you the one who Wendy directed here?”

 

“Ah,” the new face smiles bashfully, tucking a stray hair behind her ear as she makes her way over to Seulgi at the counter. “Yes, that's me. I'm Irene. Wendy is the Soulweaver, right? She said she would call ahead for me. Are you Heartmaker Seulgi? Wendy said that you're the best around.”

 

“ _ Irene _ ,” Seulgi repeats, reaching out to shake Irene's hand. “I'm Seulgi, one of this town’s Heartmakers. I'm not sure you could call me the best, but I definitely do all I can to fix all the hearts sent my way.”

 

“Hmm…” Irene hums, her lips quirking slightly. “How many hearts have you been unable to fix?”

 

“None,” Seulgi says, a quiet pride to back up her statement. Her father had never failed, so Seulgi had vowed never to give up either. “I’ve fixed every single one of my clients’ heart, and I don't plan on breaking that record any time soon.”

 

The look Irene gives her is one of marvel, silent wonder glinting in her dark brown eyes.

 

“Is that so?” She murmurs thoughtfully, and she raises a hand to touch her chest.

 

“No one has been able to fix my heart,” Irene admits. “Back in the City, I had been told that it was unfixable by every single Heartmaker. Then I thought that maybe it was because that City held too many bad memories, and I needed a change of scenery.”

 

Seulgi hums, leaving her chair and making her way around the countertop to Irene. “That definitely could be it. There are a lot of factors that go into irreparable hearts.”

 

“But I also just think…” Irene trails off, biting a red, red lip and looking down. “I also just think that it's too damaged to be repaired… There are parts missing, Seulgi, so many parts. It's been bent out of shape too… it doesn't even look like a heart anymore…”

 

“Can I see it?” Seulgi asks gently, bringing a consoling hand to touch Irene's arm. “I know you're afraid, Irene, but I want to help you.”

 

“I—” Irene inhales before nodding.

 

Seulgi feels her own soul quivering at the sight of the beaten, broken shell of what once appeared to be a heart. Irene hadn’t been lying— there were large parts missing, other areas having been bent in ways they shouldn't be. But what got Seulgi the most was the certain lack of any sort of glow. Most of the time, the hearts she received for repairs were flickering like dying lights.

 

Irene's heart had no light at all.

 

“If you can't fix it,” Irene whispers, like she hadn’t expected much anyway, “it’s okay. It probably just isn't meant to be.”

 

“No, no,” Seulgi says, her voice soft. She shoots a kind smile Irene's way. “That won't be necessary. I  _ will _ fix your heart, Irene. I promise. It might take a few days, especially since other customers might venture in here, but I will fix it, so that you’ll be able to find your One. Please be patient with me, Irene.”

 

Irene shakes her head, tears pricking at the corner of her eyes at the mere conviction in Seulgi’s voice.

 

“Seulgi, if you can do what you claim to be able to, I’d be content with waiting an eternity.”

 

\--

 

Seulgi starts working as soon as Irene leaves, cupping the damaged heart in her hands and tenderly bringing it to the back of the shop to her workbench.

 

She starts with her examination, quickly sticking a pencil behind her ear and pulling over a notepad, jotting down notes here and there.

 

Certain areas are bent at unnatural angles, but they’re doable. Seulgi had dealt with similar faults before. The lack of a glow is concerning, but it's mostly because of the heart’s incompleteness. Should she fix the bent areas, the glow should start to flicker.

 

Seulgi frowns.

 

The missing parts though…  _ those  _ are concerning.

 

She can see why other Heartmakers had deemed it unfixable from the beginning.

 

Not her, though.

 

Puffing out a cheek, she shakes her head, turning away from the workbench to get her tools from the surrounding shelves.

 

She can't distinguish what parts are missing when the rest of the heart is bent so sorrowfully out of shape, so there's a starting point, at least.

 

A brief pause. 

 

She gently pulls out a soft handkerchief and brush from another drawer, only used for the hearts that haven't been in use for long periods of time. Certainly, now is one of these cases.

 

And as she starts brushing away at the layer of dust covering Irene's heart, Seulgi briefly wonders what had happened to the beautiful girl; what kind of tragedy had occurred for Irene to have virtually destroyed her heart?

 

Seulgi works late into the night, no other customers having come in to disrupt her work on Irene's heart. When she glances at the clock and sees that it's nearly midnight, Seulgi places Irene's heart tenderly into a box lined with velvet cushions, storing it securely on a high shelf, before retiring to her loft above the shop.

 

\--

 

The next day, Seulgi doesn't get to continue where she left off on Irene’s heart until nearly noontime. Two other customers had come in for their hearts, one with a minor bend in the left arch, and the other whose parts had merely gotten mixed up.

 

Seulgi had fixed those problems on the spot before handing each client their hearts back with a bright smile.

 

She's working on bending the right arch of Irene’s heart back into its proper shape (the entire thing is a delicate process) when the bell above the entrance jingles again and Seulgi gingerly puts her tool down. Dusting her hands off, she heads over to the counter from the back, not expecting the woman waiting there.

 

“Irene!”

 

“Seulgi!” Irene beams Seulgi’s way. She’s leaning, relaxed against the counter, in front of a brown bag, shooting the Heartmaker an amused look. “I was talking to Wendy today, and she may have let it slip that you often forget to eat lunch when you're deep into your work. She told me you like sushi, so I bought some for you.”

 

“O-oh,” Seulgi stutters, sheepishly grinning at her client and taking the brown paper bag as it's handed to her. “Thank you, Irene, that's very kind of you.”

 

“Of course,” Irene giggles, and Seulgi feels her soul ripple, staining colors of crimson. Irene is  _ beautiful _ . Seulgi just can't imagine who could have had the guts to even dare hurt the woman in front of her. “No worries, I kept the vegetables to a minimum.”

 

“Wendy told you about that too, huh?” Seulgi chuckles, pulling out the container and motioning for Irene to follow her to the back area. “Are you busy? Or would you like to join me for a late lunch?”

 

The smile Irene gives her is dazzling.

 

“I would love to, Seulgi.”

 

\--

 

After cleaning up their quick meal, Irene spectates in awe as Seulgi brings her tools back out, reaching into the little velvet box to pull her own broken heart out.

 

“It looks different from yesterday,” Irene marvels, standing up to walk around the workbench.

 

“I cleaned it up yesterday,” Seulgi supplies as explanation, “And I've started bending portions back into place. Yours was… very out of shape, so it's taking a bit longer than usual. It's starting to look more heart-like, right?”

 

Irene laughs, the sound like music to Seulgi’s ears.

 

“It does! You're amazing, Seulgi!” Irene praises. She retakes her seat across from Seulgi, pulling the seat out from under the workbench. “They always told us not to try to fix our hearts on our own as children. Do you know why?”

 

“Ah,” Seulgi nods. It was a common phrase amongst adults to their young children –  _ don’t try to fix your own heart! That’s what the Heartmakers are here for –  _ it was not rare for a parent to bring their children in for visits to her shop. Tenderly, she begins working on bending the left arch of Irene’s heart again, making a show of how easy it was to twist.

 

“Hearts are fragile,” she explains. “You’re always taught as a child to never go around just holding your heart in your hands, to always keep it safe. You’re not supposed to play with it— no tossing it around like a ball, or burying it in the dirt, no leaving it behind where you can’t find it again. That’s because you’re heart isn’t just some object you just happened to be born with; it’s an extension of you. And they’re fragile— sure, they can be broken if they’re dropped, but, as I’m sure you’ve seen, they can be completely destroyed by the power of mere words alone.”

 

Irene remains quiet, the gaze in her eyes enough to tell Seulgi to go on.

 

“That’s why we have specialists,” Seulgi continues, taking a breath. “And that’s also why Heartmaking is usually a business passed down through families. Heartmakers are usually raised up by learning how to handle and care for hearts, a bit more extensively than the typical child.” Seulgi laughs a little, remembering all the days spent sitting right where Irene sits now, across from her father, watching him work. “Something about the business somehow gets passed down.”

 

“Well it’s a system that works,” Irene finally says, looking at Seulgi like she holds all the answers in the universe, and the younger woman feels herself still under the weight of Irene’s gaze.

 

“I suppose so,” Seulgi agrees with a nod.

 

\--

 

They speak for hours, about their childhoods, their years in school, their work lives. Apparently, Irene works for a company with a sister branch located in town, so she didn’t have to drop her job to get away from the City. However, her days don’t start until tomorrow, hence why she had chosen to spend her last day of vacation leave with Seulgi.

 

Conversing well into the evening, they don’t even realize that it’s gotten dark outside until the cuckoo clock in the corner of Seulgi’s shop chimes eight times in a row.

 

“It’s eight already?” Irene gasps before whipping her head back to Seulgi, who beams up at her. “I’m so sorry! I must’ve taken up so much of your time today.”

 

“No worries!” Seulgi is quick to say, “I’m glad you were here, Irene! I got a lot of work done with you around, so don’t worry about a thing.”

 

“If you’re sure,” Irene says with a small smile, pushing in her chair and standing up to leave. “It was really nice talking to you, Seulgi. Um, when do you think you’ll be…?”

 

“If I get in as much time in tomorrow as I hope to,” Seulgi cocks her head, fleetingly running through the mental calculations, “Then the day after tomorrow?” She casts a look over Irene’s heart, still floating gently where she had left it on her workbench. It looks better now, with all its bent areas now brought back into its proper shape. Now the only problem is the gaping holes.

 

“Yeah, I should be done by then.”

 

“That’s… good,” Irene says quietly.

 

“I—” Seulgi nods. “Yeah.”

 

“Seulgi?”

 

“Yeah, Irene?”

 

“He—” Irene takes a deep breath. “He left me the night before the wedding. Eight years of being together, and the night before the wedding, he asked for his heart back and said that he didn’t want any regrets. I asked him what had brought this whole thing on, and I don’t know why I asked.”

 

“Irene…” Seulgi takes a step towards the trembling woman, grabbing her hand and drawing circles into the back of it. “You don’t have to tell me if you’re not comfortable with it.”

 

“No, I—” Irene sighs, and Seulgi gently tugs her in for a loose hug. “It’s just that I was setting myself up for this. I knew that he had been seeing other girls. I knew for  _ years. _ And yet I still stuck with him. I thought I could continue loving him regardless; I had given my heart to him seven years ago, after all. But that night, before we were supposed to get married, he gave me my heart back, saying that it had been rotting this whole time, and he hadn’t cared. He only used it as an excuse  _ not _ to marry me.” 

 

She looks to Seulgi meaningfully, unshed tears making her eyes appear glassy, like little pools of clear water.

 

“I was a fool, Seulgi, and I got my heart wrecked because of it. I’m pathetic.”

 

“You’re not pathetic, Irene,” Seulgi says lowly, drawing the other woman in closer, her hug getting firmer. It was strange, this feeling stirring from the depths of her soul, urging her to protect this virtual stranger. But in the hours she had spent with Irene, how could she want to do anything  _ but _ protect Irene?

 

“You’re not pathetic,” Seulgi repeats again. “You’re brave. You were brave back then, and you’re brave even now. I just need you to be brave for me just a little longer. Thank you for coming to me, Irene. Thank you for trusting me to fix your heart.”

 

\--

 

Seulgi doesn’t put away Irene’s heart after the other woman leaves. Instead, she sits down behind the bench, elbows pressed against the wooden top. She stares contemplatively at Irene’s heart, something churning in her stomach.

 

How had someone dared to just watch it go to waste? Just sit by and watch entire portions of Irene’s heart just disintegrate, never to return? Seulgi shakes her head. It just doesn’t make sense.

 

Still, there are gaping holes left in Irene’s heart, the only remnants marring the now-solid frame. The glow has returned slightly, flickering on and off like a firefly’s light.

 

Seulgi lets out a lungful of air. She knows that she very well could stop right here; that she could give Irene her heart back just like this, incomplete, but still functioning more than before. She’s fully aware that what she’s managed to get done for Irene is more than the slightly older woman could ever ask for.

 

And yet Seulgi knows that Irene deserves more, and she wishes that she could give her just that. She hardly knows Irene, and yet Seulgi knows that she would willingly traverse the seven seas, climb the tallest of mountains, and travel to the very ends of the galaxy, just to never see that same sad expression cross Irene’s beautiful face ever again.

 

She places a hand on her own chest, narrowing her eyes.

 

“Will it be enough?” She asks herself.

 

Seulgi gently cups her own heart, depositing it onto the workbench, right beside Irene’s.

 

Her heart isn’t in the best shape either. She’s given up small pieces here and there to certain clients who have lost a little. She’s never even  _ considered _ trying something like this, but—

 

“It’ll just have to be.”

 

\--

 

Irene doesn’t stop by the next day due to it being her first day back from work. Seulgi finds that just fine. She doesn’t want Irene to be around for this part anyway.

 

\--

 

She finishes early than she expect, still midafternoon by the time she places Irene’s newly completed heart back in its designated velvet box.

 

Picking up the phone, Seulgi’s about to dial the phone number Irene had left her when a thought strikes.

 

Would this be the last time she ever saw Irene? With her new heart, what would Irene do with it? Surely she would go out and find someone new; hopefully someone better, who would treat her heart right. Because as much as Seulgi would want to see Irene again, she doesn’t want Irene’s heart to be broken. Not again. Irene doesn’t deserve that.

 

With a sigh, Seulgi punches in Irene’s number, not surprised when the other woman’s voicemail answers instead.

 

“Hi Irene, it’s Seulgi. I finished it, just to let you know… so you can stop by sometime tomorrow. That’s really all. Bye.”

 

_ God, I think that’s the most awkward phone call I’ve ever had, and there wasn’t even anyone on the other end. _

 

She mumbles something under her breath about yet another slow day, before seating herself on a reclining chair in the corner.

 

Pulling out the remnants of her own heart, Seulgi silently begins to fashion the remains into something resembling a heart.

 

“It’ll have to do,” she chuckles to herself as a small, miniature heart slowly comes into shape under the work of her own hands.

 

A last resort, but it’s enough.

 

\--

 

“Here,” Seulgi says with small smile as she cups Irene’s heart in her hands, handling it with the utmost care as she passes it back to its owner. “It’s all fixed for you.”

 

“I can’t believe it,” Irene whispers, hands trembling as she palms her heart, now good as new, looking like it had never been broken in the first place. From within its core, a steady, pulsing glow shines throughout the heart, brighter than Irene can even remember it. “You really managed to fix it!”

 

“Do you like it?” Seulgi asks shyly, absently fiddling with a handkerchief she had been using to polish the heart before Irene’s arrival.

 

“I love it!” Irene gushes, beaming in Seulgi’s direction. “I really,  _ really _ love it! Thank you so much, Heartmaker Seulgi!”

 

“You’re very welcome!” Seulgi smiles in return, Irene’s blatant happiness utterly infectious. “I’m very glad to see that you’re satisfied.”

 

“How much do I owe you?” Irene asks, reaching into her bag for her purse.

 

“Oh, nothing!” Seulgi hastily says, and Irene’s eyes go wide. “I don’t want any form of payment, Irene. I—” She takes a deep breath before allowing her eyes to disappear into perfect crescent moons. “I just want you to be happy, Irene. You deserve all the happiness in the world, and you deserve someone who will take care of your heart and treasure it. That’s why I fixed it, Irene. Not for money or anything like that.”

 

“Seulgi…” Irene whispers, gazing at the Heartmaker almost in a daze-like state. She quickly shakes herself out of it. “I’m glad you were able to fix it, Seulgi, really. I was… I had actually been planning on seeing someone today. Someone who I wanted to be able to give my heart to.”

 

Seulgi swears that her soul, in its infinite loop in order to keep her alive, stops still in that moment, dimming to a dark black color.

 

“O-oh,” Seulgi stutters. “Is that so? Then perhaps you should… be on your way then. It’s already a good way through the afternoon and daylight is fading fast.”

 

Irene hums. “Perhaps I should… I suppose I’ll take my leave then.” Seulgi nods dumbly. “I’ll see you around, right, Seulgi?”

 

“Of course,” Seulgi forces herself to laugh. “I’ll always be right here.”

 

“I’m glad to have met you, Heartmaker Seulgi,” are Irene’s final words, with a lasting smile that Seulgi wishes she could immortalize right there on the spot before she whisks out the door with a gust of wind.

 

Seulgi’s can’t do anything but watch her leave, her small heart in her chest throbbing.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Until the door opens again with a flourish, the bell above jingling in its wake.

 

Seulgi gapes as Irene strides in again with purpose, a broad grin on her face as she walks up to the counter.

 

“Are you Kang Seulgi?” She asks.

 

Seulgi blinks. 

 

“Um, yes, I’m Heartmaker Seulgi—”

 

“I’m looking for Kang Seulgi.”

 

Seulgi’s eyes widen.

 

“Yes… that’s me.”

 

“Kang Seulgi,” Irene muses with a smile. “Did you know? I always wanted to meet you. I was told that a part of your heart is now a part of mine, and for that, I have to thank you. A certain Heartmaker told me to be brave, and now here I am, probably pulling the biggest idiotic move but—”

 

She laughs, and Seulgi feels her soul start twirling again. If Wendy had been making a tapestry from the colors of her soul right now, she would’ve found it a bright crimson.

 

“So here goes nothing. Kang Seulgi—” Irene takes a deep breath. “You are the most beautiful person I have ever met in my lifetime, and I’ve never seen someone with a kinder, more loving soul than you. I know we just met three days ago, but ever since I first stepped into this place, I felt a pull to come back, and talking to you felt like coming home. And I know that I don’t know a lot, Seulgi, but I do know that I don’t want to have any regrets. I don’t want to pass up the chance of you potentially being my One, so please—”

 

And then Seulgi’s staring in shock at Irene’s heart being cupped in the other woman’s open hands, extended to Seulgi. Irene looks at Seulgi in that same way from the first day, like Seulgi holds all the answers to the universe, and for some reason, now she’s less afraid to look back.

 

“—be brave with me?”

 

“Irene,” Seulgi whispers, fingers trembling as she takes Irene’s heart into her own hands, cradling it like a newborn. “Irene, I want to, I really do but—” She bites her lip, sudden insecurities washing over her in waves. “My heart, Irene… I don’t know if you want it.”

 

“Is it broken?” Irene asks gently.

 

Seulgi shakes her head.

 

“No, it’s functioning. It’s just that—” Seulgi thinks back to how she had taken the remains and fixated it into something smaller. “—there’s just not much of it left. I’m sorry, Irene.”

 

“Nonsense,” Irene smiles lovingly, drawing close to Seulgi, leaning her forehead against the younger woman’s when she doesn’t object, only pushes closer. “It’s your heart, yes? You… you were willing to take my second-hand heart, Seulgi. So if you’re willing to give me yours, I will gladly take it and treasure it with everything I have.”

 

Seulgi doesn’t know how she manages to do it, doesn’t know how she somehow doesn’t drop her heart or something in the act of passing it to Irene. But what she does know, is that her small heart feels at home in the hands of Irene; that she feels safe with Irene fitted comfortably into her embrace.

 

“I will be brave with you,” she whispers, nudging Irene’s nose with her own.

 

“Thank you,” Irene says in return, eyes turning glassy with tears of happiness. She leans in to speak against Seulgi’s lips. 

 

“Thank you for being brave with me.”

  
  


End.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you all for reading!!!
> 
> find me on twitter @pyrefIy where the L is an uppercase i


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